


So Many Times

by tjstar



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bullying, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Instability, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4477211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjstar/pseuds/tjstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pete is the emo-maniac, he knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Many Times

**Monday.** Pete hates his new school, his new town he’d moved in with his parents, and he absolutely hates himself. _‘Too young for depressions, it’s just an ‘awkward age’,_ and it’s what the doctor said. Bullshit. It’s just an awkward form of existence of Pete Wentz, and it’s the best way how Pete can introduce himself. It’s not so important, seriously; he feels like he’s invisible, and it’s the worst state for the emo-teenager who /really/ can’t contact with society at all. But he _likes_ his independence.

It’s not a big deal to be a popular guy in the school, right? Hey, these boys and girls in these crowded corridors are really annoying, and Pete wants to go to private school or just to be on homeschooling.

Yeah, he can handle it. He just has to find someone more unsecure than he is. Maybe that chubby kid with the glasses. Excellent choice.

 

 **Tuesday.** He watches. He’s nowhere and everywhere at the same time; no one pays attention on a short guy in hoodie and whose face half-covered with long dark bangs. The most perceptible thing is a peeled black nail-polish on his fingernails, but it doesn’t matter.

In the first half of the day, Pete catches this guy’s name — Patrick — standing behind him when he high-fives to a nerdy kid who has few tattoos on his arm (Pete doesn’t need to put efforts to know his name is Andy). How can a nerd have a tattoo? Isn’t this illegal?..

Okay, Patrick and Andy are friends. Pete keeps making discovers, and he reluctantly talks to some shaggy-haired dude — Joe — in the Math class. He’s nice, calm like the most of the students in this fucking school. Good.

But Pete has some plans anyway. He has to do something for his self-affirmation.

Patrick is defenseless, he looks innocent, and it turns Pete on. His future _victim_ gives him a glance over the glasses and smiles, because they have a few classes together; Pete just smirks in response and walks down the hallway, slightly pleased by the fact that Patrick knows about the _‘new weird kid Wentz’_. Weird. Oh yes. Patrick is such a lovely person.

The day goes pretty fast, but at lunch the time freezes and shatters, hurting Pete’s heart with the sharp-sided pieces.

He sees Patrick with a girl. Nothing unusual or romantic — they just sit on the windowsill, she explains him something, looking at the Math textbook, and Patrick listens to her words attentively. She’s pretty. No, she’s beautiful. Curly dark hair, pink lipstick, short dress, prefect body.

Pete wants to grab that stupid book and throw it away. Patrick is not good at Math, but Pete is a genius, and he should be sitting next to Patrick instead of her.

Elisa. Patrick calls her Elisa. He likes her. Probably, she likes him back. Of course, because everyone likes Patrick. Pete watches them, and he can’t tear his eyes away from Patrick. His belly is hanging over the waistband of his jeans when he sits, and it looks somewhat hypnotizing.

Pete leans his back against the wall when Elisa pats Patrick’s shoulder and heads to Literature class, leaving Patrick alone with that stupid Math textbook. He’s concerned, and Pete wants to talk to him, and also he wants to destroy Patrick without any reason.

“Wait!” Pete rushes to Patrick, noticing he slides off of the windowsill.

“Hey, what?” Patrick frowns when Pete catches the sleeve of his denim jacket.

_‘He doesn’t want to talk to me.’_

“No, I’m just… Nothing,” Pete sighs.

Patrick just nods and goes to Biology class (Pete is supposed to be there, actually) without looking at the new-strange-emo-Wentz.

This day Pete skips Biology and other classes.

 

 **Wednesday.** Pete starts a fight. After the second period, without warning he catches Patrick in the hallway and hits him in the ribs, making sure the blow was hard enough. Patrick doubles over instinctively, clutching his side, his reddish hair almost covers his pale face, and his glasses fall on the floor.

Pete realizes he wasn’t right. His first mistake is: Patrick is not as fat as Pete thought; it’s just the effect of his oversized clothes, and Pete’s fist hits fucking _bones,_ and his imagination draws a bruise, forming on Patrick’s skin immediately. And his second mistake is: Patrick fights back. Pete gasps when Patrick’s elbow collides with his stomach, and it freaks Pete out completely.

Other students are hurrying to them in confusion, and Pete furiously pushes Patrick away from him.

It’s his third mistake.

Patrick collapses with a loud thud, and his head hits a concrete floor. Pete wants to close his eyes or run away, but he crouches down next to his _enemy_.

“Fuck, are you okay?” Pete mutters as the guys and girls surround them.

Patrick’s eyes are unfocused, and he looks like he’s going to pass out, lying on his back. But he doesn’t. Patrick sits up and looks straight at Pete, pressing fingers to his temples; Andy kneels beside him, cursing himself he wasn’t here a few minutes ago. Pete bites his lips, and he doesn’t even dare to say a word.

Now it’s all even more horrible, especially when Pete notices a school Principal Mr. Hoppus; the man’s terrified. He came out of nowhere; he wades through the crowd and helps Patrick to stand up.

“Wentz! Stump! In my office, now!” he orders, holding Patrick’s arm.

Pete can swear he hears the ringing in Patrick’s ears.

“Patrick has to go to nurse,” Andy says, turning to Mr. Hoppus.

“No, I’m fine,” Patrick shakes his head, obviously regretting about it. Mr. Hoppus frowns.

Pete feels the ringing in Patrick’s ears becomes louder.

 

***

Tick-tock. Patrick winces, hearing the clock, ticking on the Principal’s table, and Pete admits it’s all his fault and another reason for self-hating — he collects these reasons.

“Explain me,” Mr. Hoppus scans them with his gaze.

Patrick adjusts his battered baseball cap and wipes his — not broken, it’s a miracle — glasses on the hem of his t-shirt.

“I’m in love with his girlfriend,” Pete blurts out, defending himself cowardly.

“Who?!” Patrick shouts, causing himself another wave of a terrible headache. “I don’t have a girlfriend, you’re a moron!!”

Pete suddenly feels better.

“Watch your mouth, Patrick,” Mr. Hoppus replies in a soft voice.

“Sorry,” Patrick sighs, rubbing his neck.

“I’m apologizing, Patrick, it’s a mistake,” Pete mumbles, staring at the linoleum in Principal’s office. Patrick doesn’t say anything.

Mr. Hoppus sighs and tells them to go back to classes.

 

 **Thursday.** Of course, he can’t meet Patrick at school for some reason, because he simply can’t find him. But Andy goes ahead with revenge; Pete isn’t surprised when Andy punches him in the face.

“He’s got a concussion,” Andy informs, glaring at Pete before he puts his books into his locker. “And Elisa is not his girlfriend.”

Pressing his palm to his jaw, Pete pretends he isn’t happy to hear the last part of Andy’s statement. Oh well. Patrick likes to talk to his friends, nice. Again, Pete isn’t surprised. Maybe, Patrick will tell him some secrets?..

Pete is the emo-maniac, he knows.

 

 **Friday.** Patrick returns to school, and Pete wordlessly watches him at the distance.

But he can’t keep the distance when he _accidentally_ meets Patrick in the bathroom — he presses a wet towel to his reddened cheek; water trickles down his neck, on the collar of his t-shirt, and the boy looks tired and helpless. Pete realizes that he’s not the only one who has some _troubles_ with Patrick.

“What happened?” Pete asks him calmly, but Patrick bursts out with angry monologue.

“Is this your business or what? Come on, tell me how shitty I am! I can see myself in the mirror, and there are no needs to remind me every minute that I’m fat, with stupid glasses, and now my eyesight is even worse because of you!! Because of you all!” Patrick throws the towel away and buries his face in his hands.

“Oh, man, I didn’t know someone’s bullying you…” Pete starts, but Patrick cuts him off rudely.

“So what?” Patrick turns away and lifts up the hem of his t-shirt, checking his side in the mirror.

Pete wants to sink through the floor, when he sees a pale skin, painted with fresh and fading bruises. Patrick touches the damaged areas, frowns, and Pete just tries to guess which of them was made by his hands.

“Names?” Pete feels like he’s about to start crashing the walls. Patrick is _his_ target, the victim of a fleeting whimsy; it will never happen again, he promises.

“No names,” Patrick tugs his t-shirt down. “Next time Andy will protect me.”

Oh yeah, Andy is a strong motherfucker.

 

***

Far in the day, Pete knows the names of Patrick’s bullies.

 

 **Saturday.** Pete knows his address.

Patrick chokes on his emotions when he sees Pete Wentz on the porch of his house. His mom has a night shift as a nurse in the hospital, so she can’t examine Pete’s state, his lip and eyebrow are bleeding; he goes limp and falls into Patrick’s arms as soon as Patrick opens the door.

“Oh fuck, P-pete?” Patrick grabs Pete by the shoulders and drags him into the hallway.

“Hey, Trick,” Pete gives him a bloody grin. “I’m making amends, hey?”

“The fact that you’ve got a hit by the truck doesn’t make me happy,” Patrick replies.

He lays Pete down onto the couch and places his hand on Pete’s forehead; he isn’t sure if he’s doing the right things, and he WANTS to kick Pete out, because he’s fucking concussed (and maybe that’s the reason for Pete’s presence in his house) because of this emo-idiot.  

“Josh and Tyler, yeah?” Pete stares at him, and Patrick shivers, thinking that he has to bring some water and something to clean the cuts. And then he will kick Pete out.

“I started _that_ fight. They said I’m your _toy-boy_ , and I got mad,” Patrick confesses, and Pete rises his injured eyebrow, wincing.

“They will never touch you again,” Pete says persuasively. “I won!”

“Now you look like shit, and it doesn’t count,” Patrick sighs and goes to kitchen to take a tissues and — maybe — painkillers.

Pete thought he needed to beat up someone to gain a confidence, but actually, he just wants someone who needs to be protected. He’s the biggest fool in the Universe.

Pete feels warmth, coming from Patrick, but every part of his body hurts as hell, and he just lets out a disappointed groan. When Patrick gives him tissues to wipe the blood, Pete starts apologizing, and it’s like he has no filter between his brain and his mouth.

“Sorry, sorry, Patrick I’m sorry, I thought you’re so happy and perfect, and I wanted… I don’t know, I saw you with that girl…” Pete stops his babbling to catch his breath.

“She’s a friend,” Patrick explains darkly. “And you’re just a jealous dumbhead. I don’t even know you.”

“Do you want to know me better?” Pete offers, hoping Patrick’s answer will be positive.

“Not really,” Patrick shrugs. “Go home, Pete.”

Pete gets up lazily and pulls on the hood of his hoodie; it almost covers his face, and it’s very good. He makes his way to the front door and thinks he has the time to catch the last bus.

“See you tomorrow,” Pete winks, going out of the door.

Patrick doesn’t offer Pete to spend the night in his house, but when Pete leaves, he feels uncomfortable loneliness.

 

**Sunday.**

“Do you like stars?”

They sit on the roof of some unknown garage, ready to run away if its owner will appear to express a dissatisfaction.

Pete feels weird when he looks at Patrick; this guy has an incredible energy which fills Pete up and makes him much less depressive. He still hates himself for all his mistakes, but… _Patrick is here_ , he chuckles and wrinkles his nose at Pete’s question.

“I don’t know much about stars,” Patrick throws his head back and stares at the dark starry sky. Pete’s not an astrophysicist, but he can tell the difference between the Moon and the constellation Great Bear, and he’s proud of it. Okay, it’s not a good joke.

_‘Patrick is here, Patrick answered that call and agreed to meet me.’_

“Look, it’s a falling star!” Pete points his finger on a little glowing spot, cleaving the sky.

“I think it’s a satellite, but… Did you make a wish?” Patrick’s glasses gleaming in the starlight, and Pete notices his strange smile.

“I want you to forgive me, it’s my biggest dream,” Pete sighs. He should end his ‘emo-phase’ for his own good, but he can’t.

“Not so fast, Wentz,” Patrick smirks, patting Pete’s back. “But I’m close to.”

Pete finds the courage and quickly kisses Patrick’s soft cheek, it slightly cold from September’s night air.

“Does it make us closer?” Pete asks, placing his head on Patrick’s shoulder gently.

“Definitely!” Patrick’s quiet voice sounds confidently.

He can always make everything a little better.

**Author's Note:**

> i know it's such a cliche and it even reminds me my own fic but school au is school au  
> \----  
> feel free to tell me about my bad grammar because i don't speak english and it's still weird for me


End file.
